Columns

Medieval, barbaric — a woman’s death to shame even the Pope

Savita Halappanavar was buried in her wedding sari. She had been married for
four years. To judge by the photographs and video footage of her dancing to
celebrate Diwali, she was beautiful and full of life and joy. Savita,
originally from India, was 31 and a dentist. She had, since her marriage,
been living in Galway with her husband, Praveen. She died at the city’s
University Hospital last month, in agony, over three days.

Savita was 17 weeks pregnant. “It was her first baby, first pregnancy, and you
know she was on top of the world, basically,” her husband said last week.
“She was so happy. Everything was going well. She was so excited.” But
then Savita started experiencing severe pains and it became clear that she
was miscarrying. The couple rushed to hospital, where she requested a
termination. Her request was refused.

“They said, ‘Unfortunately she can’t because it’s a Catholic country,’”